Are toys safer than they were when I was young?

At this time each year I have to chuckle when I read about the toys on the naughty list of World Against Toys Causing Harm. Not that I think there is anything funny about a child getting hurt, but where was the concern when I grew up?

One on the list of 10 this year is a pair of dinosaur claws that kids can wear on their hands to paw at their brothers or sisters. That makes a lot of sense to me because of potential eye and face injury. The Splat X Smack Shot is another potentially dangerous toy.

I would never have bought those for my sons. I had a hard enough time trying to keep them from knocking the heck out of each other with whiffle ball bats.

Another toy on the list is Poo-Dough. It is substance that looks like excrement. It contains wheat and can affect children with allergies. Does anything say Merry Christmas more than a package of feces? Geesh! Who in the world would buy that for their kid anyway?

A Foam Dart Gun is also on the W.A.T.C.H. list. It doesn’t list any particular danger except it looks too much like a real gun. I thought my cap guns looked pretty realistic except for the red paper hanging out after I fired them.

And I remember the Christmas I got them better than any other. I always watched Roy Rogers on television and wanted to be exactly like Dale Evans. When I was about 5 or 6, Santa brought me cowboy boots, a hat and a holster containing my beloved cap pistols.

I am sure glad being politically correct wasn’t a concern when I was young. Although maybe my parents were far ahead of their time with the cowgirl gear.

There has been a push to do away with gender-related toys. The aisles in department store toy sections are no longer designated boys and girls. You might find a doll right next to a football.

You seldom see little girls pushing dolls in toy baby buggies like we had in the past. But those of us who were passed the doll playing age in 1959 when Barbie was introduced always had baby-dolls.

Skipit's Wheely Cute Pull Along is another toy on the W.A.T.C.H. list. It could potentially be a choking hazard. Maybe my folks were trying to get rid of me when they gave me a set of Pop It Beads for Christmas one year.

And just think of the danger my favorite Mr. Potato Head attachable parts could have caused me.

As I look back I think of all the dangerous things we played with like jacks, BB guns, marbles, Tinker Toys and pogo sticks, it’s a wonder we lived through it all.

I remember wanting a pogo stick so badly one year. And when I finally got one, my foot missed the step and I took a huge chunk of skin out of my right calf. My parents didn’t blame the pogo stick for the damage to my leg. It was my mistake that caused the injury.

I am certainly glad kids aren’t getting hurt playing like they did when I was a child. My main concern about today’s youngsters is they will all develop carpal tunnel syndrome from playing video games all day.